Going somewhere with your baby? Well deserved if you ask us, given the past 9 months you’ve just endured!
And by no means are we trying to deter you from your safe travels with your little one, but tending to the baby’s needs such as their eating, sleeping and changing diapers while on a trip can be quite challenging for the first time.
So, we’re here to help by answering your questions about baby travel cots. Questions like what a travel cot is, how to put up a travel cot, and how to fold a travel cot. Get these bits done right, and you’ll be set for a full and restful night’s sleep for both baby and you.
Unavoidably, you might find yourself stressing over the essentials to bring and how to cater to their needs. Little things can pile on the stress, such as baby food packs, bottle sterilization, extra supplies and the all-important necessities for a good nights night’s sleep.
Babies spend most of their time sleeping, so a good quality sleep should be one of your main priorities here. How do we achieve this seemingly simple task? You got it – a good travel cot
As we all know, whenever babies feel discomfort or dissatisfaction, they can cry a lot. And let’s face it, no parent wants a screeching baby the whole holiday (can you imagine…)
Luckily, there are lightweight, portable travel cots available that can help solve the whole sleeping conundrum for your little one, which in turn will lead to a happier baby, where everyone can enjoy the baby’s laughter instead of the tears.
Sounds good right? Pull up a seat and let’s get to it.
What is a travel cot?
The travel cot is a product made for babies to sleep in and parents usually call it sent from heaven as it is very convenient to use. There are different kinds of travel cots to choose from depending on the level of need. And these are a standard travel cot, a pop-up travel cot and a bassinet travel cot. A standard travel cot has a collapsible frame and removable mattress.
It can be also be used as a playpen and suitable for babies and toddlers. And the pop-up travel cot is the smaller one that instantly pops up into a bed and can be folded for easy carriage. It is best for smaller and lighter babies. Lastly, the bassinet travel cot is like the two other kinds but much smaller and softer, which is best for newborn babies.
If you’ve chosen the standard travel cot, the next question is, how to set up the travel cot? It’s just quick and easy. Whether you are familiar with it, heard about it or are just a beginner and don’t know where to start. We’ll cover a step by step guide on how to put up a travel cot, how to fold a travel cot, as well as how to put it back down again.
How to put up a travel cot
Let’s get started. Firstly, let’s get the travel cot out of the bag. Now, considering the wide range of different models here, you may need to slightly adapt the below to your own. Every travel cot will come with a set of safety instructions, so please make sure you follow these, too.
But, as I know from experience, not every set of instructions comes as easy to follow as you’d hoped for. So our instructions for how to put up a travel cot might just save the day;
- Place it on a flat surface – Firmly place it on the floor. Making sure that it’s a flat surface makes it be easier for you to set it up. Hold and gather all the four-leg corners in the middle. To know that you get it right, you can see the circle with a pull cord in the middle.
- Open the top – By using both of your hands, spread the four-leg corners simultaneously, pushing them towards their direction and exposing the circle in the middle of the cot.
- Pull up the sides – All at once, pull up the sides. Do the opposite sides together. The longer sides first and then the shorter sides. Make sure that they clicked in.
- Push the circle down in the middle – By using your palm, push the circle down and flatten the surface. You’ll be able to see where you put the mattress cot, covering the circle in the middle. After that, you’re done!
Now pat yourself on the back for a task well accomplished!
Err, so how do we get this thing back down again…
How to put down a travel cot
- Pull the circle up in the middle – After removing the mattress cot off the bedding, you’ll see the circle in the middle with a pull cord. Pull it up. Make sure to hold the leg corner sides.
- Unclick buttons on both sides – You’ll see that buttons are placed on both sides, usually on the longer sides of the travel cot. Unclick the buttons and make sure you unclick them on both sides at the same time. To check if you’ve done it correctly if you did it right, it should look sloppy and make a “U” shape.
Note: If you won’t click it properly, the legs won’t meet even if you try to push them together. So, see to it that when you put down and put up the travel cot, move it to the opposite side, it should be at the same time.
We also found the below video super helpful before we came fully accustomed to my own baby travel cot.
So, now that you know how to set up a travel cot, you will save a lot of time, effort and stress if those pesky instructions are like a foreign language to you. In turn, this means good quality sleep for the baby, good quality sleep for you…and a thoroughly enjoyable trip for everyone involved.
…Other guests included.
Enjoy every moment, and have a truly fantastic holiday with the family!
